Guacamelee! is a Mexican, not a Mexican’t.
By most accounts, especially mine, Guacamelee! is pretty damn good. But not only has the Mexico-themed Metroidvania beat-em-up charmed critics, it’s resonated with the average gamer as well, judging by the PSN exclusive’s impressive sales.
According to Sony, Guacamelee! was last month’s best-selling PSN game, topping both the PS3 and Vita charts in North America and Europe. Despite launching on the 9th, the game managed to beat both Terraria and Tomb Raider on the PS3, as well as snatch the VITA crown from Sony’s Soul Sacrifice and Muteki’s Dragon Fantasy Book 1. In Europe, the game managed to outsell PSN favorites, Journey, Hitman: Blood Money HD and Crysis. Not bad for a tiny, independent team with just three games under its belt.
So what’s Guacamelee! about? To quote a trustworthy source (me):
Juan, an agave farmer from the strong and silent school of videogame protagonists, is spurred to action after his childhood friend/love interest (who is literally called “el presidente’s daughter”) is kidnapped by Calaca, a sharply-dressed skeleton intent on the usual undead shenanigans; Evil rituals, world domination, insane laughter, et al. After a brief brush with death, Juan finds himself in possession of a magical luchador mask that gives him mystical lucha libre wrestler powers. He then sets off to suplex his way through deserts, jungles, temples and an army of evil skeletons to retrieve his bogarted love and thwart Calaca’s vaguely-outlined plan for ruling both the worlds of the living and the dead.
In short; Beautiful, brilliant, satisfying and intelligent. The game is pretty good too. I gave it four out of five.
Source: Sony Blog
